GUWAHATI, May 3 � Alleging political conspiracy behind the BTAD massacre, Dr Hiren Gohain-led Guwahati Sanmilita Nagarik Adhikar Suraksha Mancha organised a citizens� meet today and demanded a high level enquiry by a Central Government agency under the observation of the Supreme Court to nab the culprits behind the bloodshed.
Strongly condemning the incident, the citizens' meeting appealed all sections of the society to maintain restraint and not to fall prey to the conspiracy hatched by the trouble mongers. It also strongly criticised the State Government for its failure to control the situation effectively and asserted that the civil society organisations would not remain mute spectators of the entire incident.
Many of the prominent citizens criticised the government policies to �lay red carpet� for the militants, who later on become public figures despite having a history of terrorism.
�The gruesome killings in BTAD are neither group clashes nor communal clashes, but the acts of terror. Mere blaming NDFB (Songbijit) for the incident is not enough unless the motive behind such act comes to light. Further, enquiries should also be conducted into the allegations from various quarters that the killing might be a ploy to 'punish' the voters for not casting their vote in favour of any specific political party,� said Dr Gohain.
�Even the State Government is under the scanner as it has become apparent that either there was an intelligence failure or the possibility of ignoring the intelligence inputs. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who is the in-charge of the Home Department, must be answerable to the people,� he added.
The issue of seizure of arms owned by the surrendered, pro-talk or anti-talk militant was also raised in the meeting by the All Assam Tribal Sangha general secretary Aditya Khaklari. He further said that the Union Government has also failed to deal with the insurgency issue in the region. Senior political leader Hemen Das said that any act of terror should be vehemently condemned by the people. �The trend of terrorists becoming political leaders is not good for the State. Similarly, strong action should be taken against anyone in the government having link with the terrorists,� he said.
Educationist Abdul Mannan while speaking on the occasion said that it was high time to give a strong message to the terror mongers. He also criticised the government policy to encourage terrorists into public life.
Cultural activist Loknath Goswami and Samajwadi Party leader Hafij Rashid Choudhury expressed apprehension about the vote-bank politics behind the massacre. Choudhury further said that it might be a ploy to divert public attention and temper the EVMs. A number of other eminent citizens including journalist Nitya Bora, educationist Udayaditya Bharali, social activists Junu Bora and Sumitra Hazarika among others spoke on the occasion.
Resolving to send a team to the affected areas, the meeting asked the State Government to provide adequate compensation to the victims, besides ensuring safety and security of the people living in the affected and other sensitive areas.
